Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku o! Volume 2 Chapter 1

Trading these true companions of mine away!

Translator: Skythewood
Editor: Darkdhaos, RavenSlither, Chris S

Part 1

“… I want money!”

I groaned miserably.

I want money. And a lot of it.

—I was inside the bar of the facility known as adventurer’s guild.

I hugged my head with both hands and buried my face on the table.

“Anyone would obviously want that. It’s the same for me too… By the way, aren’t you being too useless? To let a goddess like me stay in the stables, don’t you know shame? If you get it, let me live more luxuriously. Take better care of me!”

The one complaining to me was a beautiful girl with blue hair and eyes.

This girl, whose only strong point was her good looks, was Aqua, and I think she was some sort of goddess—

“… Don’t you know why I crave for money so badly?”

“The elegant and wonderful me wouldn’t understand what a former hikikomori like you is thinking about right? You are after the funds for you to stay a Hikikomori forever, isn’t that it?”

“It’s debts.”

When Aqua heard what I said, she trembled and averted her gaze.

“It’s the debts alright! Because of the money you owed, most of the rewards from quest are garnished! My brows were frozen when I woke up in the stables this morning! The other adventurers are already renting rooms in the tavern to sleep! If we keep doing this during winter, we will freeze to death in the stables! Get a grip, now is not the time to say stupid things like ‘I will return victoriously after defeating the demon king’!”

I slammed my hand on the table as I lectured Aqua who averted her eyes and cupped her ears.

—In this world, there were people known as adventurers.

They fought monsters that threatened the lives of people night and day, and preoccupied themselves day by day without worrying about the next.

Even the adventurers who were not known for their long term planning mulled their time away in the inn during the winter.

This was because the weak monsters had all hibernated in the winter; only the dangerous creatures were active.

Our base was the town where novice adventurers congregated, Axel.

For adventurers who were just slightly stronger than amateurs, taking up quests during the winter was suicidal.

At this moment, Aqua banged the table and rebuked.

“That couldn’t be helped! If not for my superb performance, this town would have been destroyed!? How unreasonable to just throw the debts to us without a word of thanks! This is ridiculous! I want to complain to the counter staff!”

“Hey, stop that, don’t trouble the counter staff lady!… In the end, we did receive a large amount of reward… It’s just that it was negated by the debts. Destroying a part of town was not something that could be ignored.”

This town was attacked by a boss of the demon king named Beldia.

Demon King.

That’s right, that kind of Demon king.

The demon king that exists in games and manga sent one of the bosses to attack us.

That time, Aqua summoned a large quantity of water which was the weakness of the enemy. After the boss was weakened, I moved forward courageously and resolved the attack, but—

“What’s with you! Kazuma was just running away before using ‘steal’ during the final moments on the Dullahan, who I weakened, and took his head! Praise me more! Respect me! Don’t stop worshipping me! Everyone in the guild should adore me as a goddess and respect me!”

“You annoying fame grabbing idiot! You will act all arrogant if I don’t put you in your place! Fine, I admit the incident was settled all thanks to you! So you will get all the credits for it, you happy now!? Then go clear the debts alone!”

“Wahh wait! Sorry I was wrong I apologize don’t abandon me!”

Aqua tried to stop me in tears as I stood up to abandon the goddess of debts.

At this moment, someone spoke to us.

“Really, making a scene so early in the morning. Everyone is watching… they are not watching. The guys in the guild have gotten used to you two…”

“You two are up early. Did you find any good quests?”

The ones chatting with us were our companions, a crusader with a masochistic personality and a chuuni arch wizard named Megumin.

Darkness had a great sword on her waist, and was wearing casual clothes as she sat while flicking her long blonde hair.

The crimson eye mage wearing an eye patch sat beside her.

“Yo, you two are ready too. We haven’t found any jobs, and I don’t think we need to rush. It’s fine to wait for you two to join us before we hunt for quests.”

I said as I surveyed the guild.

It was morning, but the adventurers were already getting drunk.

It was correct to say this couldn’t be helped.

The reward for defeating the demon king’s army boss had been paid out to the adventurers who took part in the battle.

The adventurers who had gotten a bit more well off lost the reason to risk their lives hunting monster in the winter.

In conclusion, the quests on the bulletin board were open for picking, but—

I approached the bulletin board, looking for any good quests.

“Let me see… the bounties are great for these quests, but there are no decent ones left…”

Hunt down the white wolf pack attacking the farm, 1,000,000 Eris.

A ‘one hit bear’ has woken from hibernation. 2,000,000 to kill it, 500,000 for chasing it away.

There’s no way to take out the wolf pack.

It is larger and faster than canine type monsters and if they attack in a group, we will definitely be wiped out.

The bear was out of the question. Megumin and I would die with just a scratch from it.

And I don’t want anything to do with a monster with a terrifying name like ‘one hit bear’.

“… Mobile fortress Destroyer is approaching, recruiting scouts for reconnaissance regarding its route of advancement?… What? What is this Destroyer?”

“The Destroyer is the Destroyer. The huge and fast mobile fortress.”

“After rampaging around, it gained uncanny popularity among the kids.”

Oh. I don’t get it.

I didn’t take Darkness and Megumin’s explanation to heart and continued browsing the quests.

And so —

“Nah, what is this ‘snow fairy hunt’? The name doesn’t seem strong.”

Each snow fairy had a bounty of 100,000 Eris.

Among the monsters we had defeated, it had a rather high bounty, but the name didn’t sound as strong as the wolves and the bears.

“Snow fairies are weak monsters. They can be found in places with lots of snow, and will shatter when hit by a sword. But…”

I tore the notice down as I listen to Megumin.

“Hunting snow fairies? Snow fairies are not dangerous monsters, but defeating one will allow spring to arrive half a day earlier. If we are taking this quest, I will need to make preparations.”

Aqua said “wait for a while” and went off somewhere.

Megumin didn’t have any problems with hunting snow fairies too.

At this time, Darkness mumbled to herself.

“Snow fairies…”

I thought this M type crusader who was always thinking about fighting strong monsters would object.

But Darkness seemed happy for some reason.

Although Darkness seemed a bit off, but we still left to hunt the snow fairies after Aqua returned.

Part 2

The plains far away from town.

It wasn’t snowing in town, but this place was dyed white with shiny snow.

And that must be the snow fairies.

The palm sized white ball that was floating around the place.

It didn’t seemed dangerous.

But why would such a harmless thing have the bounty of 100,000 Eris?

They say defeating one of these things will bring spring half a day closer, so the people who couldn’t wait for spring to come put up this huge bounty.

Even though the bounty was high, it didn’t mean the opposing monsters were powerful.

Monsters that were average in strength, harmless to humans but fed on the crops in the fields.

Monsters that were weak but actively attacked humans, aggressive in nature.

In such cases, defeating the weak monster that attack humans will yield a higher bounty.

Although the bounty of the snow fairies were disturbingly high, I was more concerned with something else.

“… You, can’t you do something about your attire?

”

I looked at Aqua who had an insect net and many small bottles, who was dressed like a dumb kid catching crickets in the winter.

Aqua had a ‘what are you saying!?’ face, looking at me like a moron.

This idiot.

“I want to catch the snow fairies and put them into the small bottles! If I put it together with a beverage in a box, I would be able to drink ice cold Neroid at any time! I want to make a fridge! What do you think? I’m smart right?”

I can already see the ending, but I guess I will let her be.

And…

“Where is your armor?”

“Still being repaired.”

After the shenanigans of Aqua, the tank in our party— Darkness was wearing casual clothing without a piece of armor, she only had a great sword on her back.

“… The armor was battered after the fight with the demon king army’s boss… but is this equipment really okay?… Well, I don’t think the snow fairies will attack us though.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry. It is a bit cold, but this is like a cold endurance contest and feels nice…”

Darkness who was only wearing a tight skirt and black shirt, was panting in her minimal attire.

Maybe perverts who were hot in the head had a high body temperature too.

We focused on the task and began hunting the snow fairies.

“Megumin, Darkness! They are escaping your way, take care of them! Damn, they are squirming all over!”

“They float around leisurely if you leave them alone, but they dodge agilely if you attack them.”

It was hard to hit these guys.

But the bounty for each one was 100,000 after all, so such difficulties were expected.

After taking down the 3rd snow fairy, I took a deep breath.

“I caught a 4th one! Look Kazuma! What a harvest!”

Following the source of Aqua’s cheerful voice, I saw her putting the snow fairy caught by the insect net into a small bottle.

… Should I try using an insect net too?

If the numbers we took down were too low, I should take out all the snow fairies she caught.

“They are too fast Kazuma, Darkness and I couldn’t get them… Can I use explosion spell to blow up an area?”

Megumin said while panting. Chasing alongside Darkness, Megumin finally got one snow fairy with her staff.

I was worried about drawing the attention of creatures such as white wolves and one hit bears, but I could keep a look out with ‘detect enemy’, and run away if there were any reactions.

“Alright, I’m counting on you Megumin. Get them all.”

Megumin started chanting her spell —!

“Explosion!!!”

Megumin released her powerful spell that could only be used once a day.

The cold dry air trembled, and with a roar, the brown earth in the center of the snow white plains exploded, forming a crater.

Megumin laid prone onto the snowy ground after exhausting her mana, displaying her adventurer’s card proudly.

“Eight! I took out 8. And I raised a level!”

Oh, well done. You would look much cooler if you didn’t say that while half buried in the snow.

With this, I took 3, Megumin got 9. Making it a total of 12.

Including Aqua’s catch, there were 16, so 1,600,000 Eris.

Splitting it 4 ways, that would be 400,000 each.

That’s a large haul for less than an hour of work.

What is this, hunting in winter yields lots of money.

Why didn’t anyone take up this easy job with such a large bounty?

Answering my doubts — That suddenly appeared before us.

“… Ah, it appeared!”

Darkness looked at that thing as she took a stance with her great sword and smiled.

Because it appeared so suddenly, I couldn’t use ‘detect enemy’ to escape.

“……”

Megumin who was boasting of her victory was playing dead.

“…Kazuma. Let me tell you why the adventurers don’t take on quests in the winter.”

Aqua took a step back as she stared at that.

— That thing which was the focus of our attention took a heavy step forward.

“You stayed in Japan in the past. When you were young you must have heard this name during this season in the weather reports and news right?”

That thing with pure, white, heavy armor released its boundless killing intent at us.

As a Japanese citizen, I could tell from a glance what Aqua was talking about.

Just that terrifying figure was enough even if Aqua didn’t explain. But I still waited for her to say it.

“The master of the snow fairies, and the symbol of winter itself…”

The Japanese style white, heavy helmet matched the snow white scale armor.

The armored warrior with a white mask breathed cold white smog as it stood before us.

— Aqua said with a serious face.

“That’s right. This is Jack Frost.”

“Idiocy! All the people, food and monsters in this damn world are stupid!!”

The terrifyingly sharp blade reflected the sunlight— Jack Frost attacked!

Part 3

Its helmet was pure white. It was a simple and dull color, but the elegance of the warring era armor was still prominent.

Its body was covered with scale armor of intrinsic designs.

Its blades emit cold white smog and was obviously sharp.

Jack Frost had a strong presence and took up a stance.

The white blade shone under the sun and slashed towards Darkness who was the nearest to him!

“Ugh!?”

Darkness wanted to block with her great sword, but—

With a crisp crack, the great sword that withstood the blows from Beldia was easily broken.

“Ahh!? My sword is …!?”

Aqua put some distance between her and Jack Frost as she said…

“Jack Frost; one of the special monsters with a high bounty set by the nation. Jack Frost is the fairy of winter… Fairies don’t have a material body. It manifests itself according to the unconscious descriptions and images of the people it meets. The fairy of fire would turn into a violent salamander according to ‘the desire to engulf everything in flames’. The fairy of water reminds people of the young, beautiful and sensible goddess of water, so they would manifest themselves as a young girl… But the fairy of winter is a bit special alright? In the winter with dangerous monsters all around, even adventurers won’t leave their homes, so few people have met the fairy of winter… That’s right, except for the bunch of cheaters who were transported here from Japan.”

She held onto the bottles containing the snow fairies as she elaborated on Jack Frost.

Jack Frost was breathing cold, white smoke from the mouth of its mask.

I stood beside Darkness who had broken her sword, putting up my guard before Jack Frost.

“… You mean this thing is because those idiots from Japan think that ‘When you talk about winter, you have to talk about Jack Frost’? Why are there such troublesome matters, what should we do? Can we fight the fairy of winter!?”

To be frank, I don’t think I could beat the monster before me.

It might look like a humanoid warrior in armor at first glance, but if that is the manifestation of a fairy, my sword won’t be effective at all.

The lifeline Megumin couldn’t use magic anymore today.

After finishing this fight, I will step on that girl who is playing dead.

Aqua opened the bottles to release the snow fairies she worked so hard to catch.

“Kazuma, listen to me! Jack Frost is a merciful being! If you apologize properly, it would let us go!”

Aqua said as she knelt in the snow covered plains in a hurry.

“Prostrate! Prostrate yourself quick! Everyone throw your weapons away! Apologize! Hurry up Kazuma, apologize!”

Pressing her head hard into the snow, the former something threw her pride away and gave a standard kowtow.

I felt a sense of awe from Aqua who prostrated without hesitation and Megumin who was playing dead so perfectly.

And Jack Frost really did ignore the prostrating Aqua.

It turned its gaze towards me and Darkness.

I knelt in a hurry after it looked at me—!

… I realized Darkness besides me was standing right there idly.

“Hey, what are you doing, hurry up and kneel!”

Darkness threw her broken sword aside and stared at Jack Frost defiantly.

“Ugh…! Even I have my pride as a crusader! Even if no one is watching, as a knight, I can’t lower my head to a monster because of fear…!”

I grabbed Darkness’ head as she was speaking something troublesome and pressed her down forcefully.

“You were always happily chasing monsters around, why are you displaying your boring sense of pride now!”

“Stop! Ugh, I don’t want to lower my head but was forced down crudely, my face is touching the ground, what a reward! Haha… Ah, the snow is cold…!”

I pressed the head of the pervert who was offering token resistance down as I lowered mine too.

I peeked at Jack Frost, seeing that he had kept his blade.

I relaxed and continued to bow—

Aqua shouted shrilly at me.

“Kazuma, the weapon! Throw the weapon in your hand away now!!”

I was pressing my head into the icy snow plains, and suddenly realized my right hand was still holding a sword.

I threw the sword in my right hand away in a hurry.

I was panicking, so my head left the snowy ground—

What I saw was Jack Frost holding the sheathed blade with its left hand.

Jack Frost pushed the blade out with the thumb of its left hand, revealing a glimpse of white steel.

This was known as the ‘Iai stance’.

Jack Frost’s right hand which was empty swung out in an instance.

I heard a clinking sound.

That was the sound of a blade being sheathed.

As I listened to that sound, I was baffled by why my gaze which I accidentally lifted up was falling towards the snowy ground—

Part 4

— I remember completely.

I was killed by Jack Frost.

“Erm… have you calmed down?”

“Ah… sorry, I lost my composure. I showed you something disgraceful.”

In the shrine of pure white, I averted my eyes shamefully after crying pitifully before the goddess.

But the goddess who called herself Eris shook her head with a hint of sorrow:

“This is nothing to be ashamed about. You lost your precious life after all…”

She said as she closed her eyes sympathetically.

Seeing Eris’ sorrowful expression, I felt sad as well.

“Erm, may I ask? Do you know what happened to that monster that killed me?”

I was worried about those fellows taking on Jack Frost because I was killed.

“It’s fine, Jack Frost disappeared after cutting you down.”

Hearing that, I sighed without regrets.

Eris looked at me sorrowfully.

“Satou Kazuma-san. You came from peaceful Japan and encountered something like this… Brave soul who came from another world, I will use my power to let you reincarnate in peaceful Japan to a wealthy family and live a free life. I will let you go to a place you can live happily.”

After hearing Eris’ words, I remembered.

You could either live in heaven after death, or reincarnate as a baby.

Transporting to this ridiculous world was an abnormality.

The time was short, but it was a happy period in the end.

Not able to see those troubling people was a bit…

That’s right, just a bit lonely—

Maybe it’s because of the expression on my face, Eris looked at me and lowered her gaze sadly.

And she reached her right hand out to me…

“Hurry and come back Kazuma! How can you be killed off so easily in such a place! It’s too early for you to die!”

I suddenly heard Aqua’s voice.

The doppler effect of the sound reverberated through this place where only Eris and I were in.

“Wait, what’s happening!?”

But I was not the only one who was surprised.

“Wha—! This voice, Aqua-sempai!? I was thinking that arch priest looked just like senpai, could it really be her!?”

Eris opened her eyes wide in disbelief, speaking loudly to the void.

“Kazuma can you hear me? I have cast ‘Resurrection’ on your body, you can come back now. There is a goddess before you right? Ask that child to open the gate back here.”

Aqua’s voice came again.

Ohh…! So you really were a goddess, you actually did something incredible!

By the way, that girl did resurrect the adventurers killed by the dullahan!

“Okay, wait for me Aqua! I will be right there!”

I wasn’t sure if my voice will reach her, but I still shouted into the void and jumped happily.

“Hold, wait a minute! No no, I am sorry, you have already been revived once, by the laws of the heavens, you can’t be resurrected again! The other side can’t hear us, unless Aqua senpai is connected to your voice. Could you help me pass the message?”

Eris said in a panic.

Hey, are you kidding, I was happy for nothing!

“Hey Aqua, can you hear me!? She said I had already revived once, so I can’t revive again because of some rules in heaven!”

I shouted into the void.

Followed by a moment of silence—

“Ah? Which goddess said such foolish things! Tell me your name! A goddess watching over such a far off place should respect an elite like me who is in charge of Japan!!”

Hey, don’t do that.

The goddess who was in charge of the far off area looked awkward.

“Eh, it’s a goddess -sama by the name of Eris…”

I timidly said to Eris.

Which was followed by the heated voice of Aqua.

“Eris!? Just because she was worshiped as the national religion of this world, she audaciously used her name as the currency unit, flat chested Eris!? Let me tell you Kazuma, if Eris continues to prattle, you just go for the pads in her bra and—”

“I get it I get it! An exception! This time will be an exception! I will open the gate now okay!”

After drowning out Aqua’s voice, Eris snapped her fingers while blushing.

At the same time, a plain white door without decoration appeared before me.

“Really, Aqua senpai is still as unreasonable”… After Eris grumbled, she said to me:

“This way, the gate to the mortal world… Really, this normally wouldn’t happen okay? By the rules, be it kings or big shots, everyone else only gets one chance… Really. You are Kazuma-san right?”

“Eh, ah, yes!”

I stuttered in reply upon hearing Eris ask for my name.

Compared to the laughable goddess by my side, this one looked more like a goddess-sama.

And she was an exceptionally beautiful girl, so I would naturally get nervous.

The goddess who had a hint of sorrow in her eyes scratched her cheek.

Finally, she closed one eye like a playful kid and said in a soft, cheerful voice:

“Please keep this a secret okay?”

I smiled awkwardly as I pushed the white door open—

Part 5

— A sound came from the distance.

“…Zuma….! Kazuma, get up! Kazuma!”

The sound of Megumin lying on me sobbing.

…?

What is happening, my right hand feels warm.

Shifting my gaze in that direction, I could see Darkness down on one knee by my side, holding my right hand with both of her hands. Her eyes seemed to be closed in prayer.

I could feel breathing at the top of my head and looked that way.

And I met the eyes of Aqua who was looking at me.

“… Ah, you finally got up? That child is so stubborn, really.”

I heard Aqua’s voice and realized the back of my head was nice and warm.

… Oh.

It was Aqua’s lap pillow.

When Megumin and Darkness noticed I had awakened, they hugged me tightly without a word.

It was great that they were happy about my resurrection, but this feels embarrassing…!

When Aqua realized I couldn’t move because of embarrassment, she smiled deviously.

Damn, I shouldn’t had came back to this lousy place, I should had reincarnated back in Japan and lived the life of a rich man’s son.

“Hey Kazuma, don’t get hung up on being embarrassed. There should be something you want to say to us right?”

Aqua said with a mischievous smile.

Could I change this useless goddess with that cute goddess-sama I just met?

— I said this clearly to Aqua.

“Change.”

“How dare you HikiNEET! If you want to see that child so much, I will send you there right now!”

“Stop, stop! Don’t rough up someone who just revived, you violent goddess!”

Aqua screamed with veins popping on her forehead, pinning me down with her fist high, ready to beat me up.

As Darkness stopped Aqua while saying ‘never mind’, I checked my body that was slashed by Jack Frost and got up.

“… Is your body okay? Does it feels weird anywhere?”

When I heard Megumin say that, I patted all over my body.

“It seems fine. By the way, how was I killed?”

Aqua told me:

“You were beheaded by Jack Frost. That was a clean cut. Thanks to that, it was pasted back perfectly and the healing was easy. I restored a bit of your blood, but it isn’t enough. If you do any intense exercise, you will feel anemic. So you are banned from vanguard duties. It would be over if you get hurt and bleed again, understand?”

“Beheaded…!”

I was speechless and unconsciously rubbed my neck.

No matter where I touched, I couldn’t feel a scar anywhere.

A part of the snow plains was dyed by my red blood. It splattered on Darkness who was besides me too.

Although I was saved by Aqua, but just the thought of dying once still gave me chills.

The winter of this world was a season for monsters who could survive despite the shortage of food.

Which means there wasn’t any quest that could be easily completed by novice like us.

… Well, let’s call it a day and return to town.

Part 6

We went straight to the guild to collect our bounty after returning to town.

“But getting 12 in an hour. 1,200,000… It was a decent haul, but not worth dying for. That Jack Frost was said to be a special monster. How much is his bounty? To break Darkness’ sword in one blow, he seemed stronger than Beldia who was worth 300 million.”

“Jack Frost is a monster that doesn’t do anything if you leave the snow fairies alone. Even so, the bounty should be about 200 million. As a demon king’s army boss, Beldia who was clearly the enemy of humanity has a high bounty because of how dangerous it was. For Jack Frost who doesn’t actively attack humans to have a bounty of 200 million; it shows just how strong Jack Frost is.”

Hearing Megumin’s explanation, I fell into deep thought.

— 200 million.

With that much money, I could clear the debts, buy a house and live leisurely for quite some time.

“…Megumin, could you use explosion on that—”

“Jack Frost can’t be defeated by explosion. Although it had a shape of a human, it is still a fairy. Fairies are immaterial, an existence just like mana. If it was an existence like the fairy king, its magical defence would be rather high. Although explosion could deal damage to all sort of existence, it would still be hard to settle it in one blow… Also, I don’t want to cast explosion on such a scary opponent.”

It’s impossible. Looking at the depressed me, Aqua smiled deviously.

“Hmmp, Kazuma, you look rather down. But I wasn’t just thinking about prostrating. Here, look!”

Aqua said as she took a small bottle from her clothes.

There was a snow fairy inside.

She didn’t release all the snow fairies back then, and kept one.

“Oh! That’s smart of you Aqua. Okay, take this thing out! I will crush it!”

As I praised Aqua who was surprisingly smart, I held the bottle up high.

“Wha—! No, this child is for my fridge!! In order to drink ice cold Neroid in summer… No, don’t kill this child! I even gave it a name, so you can’t kill it! No, no!!”

Aqua hugged the bottle containing the fairy, squatting in defiance unexpectedly.

Damn it, a monster worth 100,000—

But Aqua revived me today. It’s a waste, but I will just let it go.

After finishing the errand at the guild, we divided the bounty that was severely lessened by the debts.

It was a bit early, but considering the huge profit we made today, we chose to rent a room in the inn and rest early.

I just revived, so I don’t want to push myself too hard.

But… Today’s profit was great, but it was just a drop in the ocean in the face of the debts.

With the dim future before me, I thought about my meeting with Eris to escape from reality.

She looked like an alluring beauty from the outside, and her personality was also—

To look so lonely and so because I died. And the goddess asking me to keep it a secret with a smile when she made an exception for my resurrection.

I felt that I had finally met a girl who could be an love interest after coming to this world.

As I thought about Eris’ face, the trip to the inn’s door was done in an instant.

“Hehe, I have to take good care of this child, and make lots of ice in the summer. And I will sell shaved ice with this child on the road side! I will sleep with it in the hot summer night…! … Nah, Megumin, do you know what this child eats?”

“I don’t know what snow fairies feed on. Really, what do they eat?”

“It looks light and fluffy, probably taste good if you dip it in sugar and put it in your mouth…”

The 3 behind me were talking about boring things.

I placed my hand on the door of the inn and turned to face the 3 of them.

And I thought of the elegant Eris.

And I looked at the faces of these 3 again.

“?” x3

The 3 of them looked confused and stared back at me.

“… Sigh.”

“Ah!!” x3

I listen to the uproar from the 3 because of my sigh and pushed the door open.

Part 7

— It happened a few days after I was killed.

“Hey, say that again.”

I suppressed my anger, asking back at that man in the silent guild.

Some time ago, I rested a few days after dying for a second time.

Fast forward to today. I was prohibited from strenuous exercise, looking for simple quests on the bulletin board, such as carrying luggage—

“I can say it any number of times. You mentioned a luggage carrying quest? In a party full of high tier job members, can’t you take on higher quest? You are the dead weight holding them back right? Man with the weakest job?”

The man dressed like a warrior said as his companions at his table laughed with him.

I must endure.

I am a man who can handle this maturely, compared to the usual mockings from Aqua, the taunts from a drunkard you could find anywhere wasn’t worth mentioning.

But this man’s words made some sense.

My companions might had some issues, but they all had high tier jobs like this man said.

But if they could be utilized better, we could achieve great results.

And my ‘adventurer’ job was indeed the weakest.

Right now, I had nothing to rebuke him.

— But, that man thought I was afraid of him because I kept quiet.

“Hey, say something you weakest job holder. Really, bringing 3 fair ladies around, are you planning to create a harem? And all of them have top tier jobs. You must be creating wonderful memories everyday with these Onee-sans right?”

Hearing this, the guild exploded in laughter.

But there were some who knew of our exploits. They were frowning and trying to warn that guy.

I couldn’t help clenching my fists, but I feel I could endure with these people in the crowd. I could get over this.

Megumin, Darkness and Aqua came over to encourage me.

“Kazuma, don’t bother with them. I won’t mind no matter what they say about me.”

“That’s right Kazuma, ignore those drunkards.”

“Yeah, that man is just jealous that Kazuma have us. I don’t mind, so just leave them be.”

Correct, the man before us was the typical troublemaker you would find in mangas.

There was no need to be concerned with him.

I gritted my teeth to endure, but that last sentence from that man made me lose my cool.

“Being surrounded by top tier class is so blissful. How envious it is to not know suffering! How about switching places with me bro?”

“I’ll gladly change theeeeeem!!”

I shouted out loud.

The adventurers guild turned silent again.

“… Huh?”

The warrior who was harassing me held his beer with one hand and made an awkward sound.

“I said that I would change with you! Hey, you think I am a pushover because I didn’t say anything right! Ahh that’s right, I have the weakest job! I am fine with that… But you! What did you say after that you jerk!”

“Ka… Kazuma?”

Aqua timidly approach me when I suddenly got mad.

But the man who back off a little because of my sudden outburst spoke before she could say anything more.

“After that part? Erm, bringing 3 fair ladies and creating a harem…”

I slammed my fist on the table.

The sound made everyone in the guild trembled.

“Fair ladies! Harem!! You said harem!? Hey, are those things in your eye sockets made from glass? Where are the fair ladies! My eyes are bad and can’t see any fair ladies alright! Why don’t you change your glass eyes with my lousy ones!!”

“Ah, huh!?” x3

When these 3 heard what I said, they pointed at themselves and gasped.

“Hey, you! Tell me! Fair ladies? Where, where are they hey! You said you envy me right? Ahh? You said that right!”

While I was grabbing that man by the collar, a timid voice came from behind me.

“Well… about that…”

That was the soft voice of Aqua who was representing the 3 of them, raising her hand.

But I ignored her and carried on.

“And after that? Being surrounded by top tier classes is so blissful? How envious it is to not know suffering!!!?”

“… Erm, well, sorry… The alcohol got to my head… But! The grass might look greener on the other side, but your situation is better! You said you want to change with me right? Just one day. How about just switching with me for one adventure? Hey, you guys are fine with that right!?”

The man whose collar was grabbed by me said as he turned to his companions for confirmation.

“I, I’m fine with that… The quest today is just hunting goblins.”

“I’m okay with it too. But Dust, don’t say you don’t want to rejoin the party because it’s too comfortable there alright?”

“I have no problems too. Even with a rookie, the goblins are no big deal. As compensation, I hope you bring some great stories back.”

The companions of the troublemaker who shared a table with him added in.

“Nah, Kazuma. Erm, you guys seemed to be chatting happily, aren’t you going to ask for our opinion?”

“No. Hello, my name is Kazuma. It might just be one day, but please take care of me!”

“Ah, ok…” x3

The 3 companions of the troublemaker acknowledged a little awkwardly.

Part 8

The man in heavy armor and a sword observed me and said:

“I am Taylor. I am proficient with a one handed sword, and I am a crusader. I am sort of like the leader of this party. It is just temporary, but you are still part of our team. Please listen to the instructions of the leader alright?”

“Of course. Or rather, I was always the one issuing the orders. Following your instructions should be easier and refreshing. Please look after me.”

Taylor seemed shocked to hear what I said.

“What? That party of top tier jobs is led by an adventurer?”

“That’s correct.”

I nodded casually and the 3 of them couldn’t say anything.

Next is a girl who seemed rather young, wearing a green cloak.

“I am Rin. As you can see, I am a wizard. I can use mid-level spells. Anyway, nice to meet you. Goblins are a piece of cake, I will protect you, rookie!”

That kid was treating me like a young junior and smiled.

I felt that my age was probably older. But a proper wizard is dependable. Please let me rely on her.

“I am Keith. Archer. I am confident with sniping. Anyway, pleased to meet you.”

A lean man with a bow on his back smiled as he talked.

“I will be in everyone’s care. I am Kazuma. My job is adventurer… Eh, should I talk about things I am good at?”

The three of them burst out in laughter when they heard that.

“No, no need. By the way, weren’t you looking for a quest carrying luggages? Kazuma, just help us with our bags. A simple quest of hunting goblins would be fine with just the 3 of us. Don’t worry, the bounty would be split equally 4 ways.”

Taylor was a bit sarcastic, but that didn’t matter.

Some might say I was surrounded by beauties, but I felt that getting paid just for carrying luggage was a great deal. Really, is that fine?

Well, since these guys said that themselves, I will take up their generous offer.

— At this moment, a familiar voice came from the quest bulletin board.

“Hmm~ repel the goblins? Why did those things appear around the town? Can’t we take quest with higher reward? We need to tell Kazuma who was loaned out for the day how precious an existence we are.”

The trouble maker was being pressured by Aqua.

“No, I know you all are very capable, but I can’t match up with you all. Arch priest, arch wizard and crusader. With such a formation, any adversaries would not be a match. But please pick a simple one this time… By the way, I see that you don’t have a weapon or armor, are you planning to go just like that?”

“No problem. I am confident of my toughness, and my weapon wouldn’t hit anyway.”

“Wouldn’t hit…? No, that…? Never mind, it would work…”

That guy conversing with Darkness wanted to ‘pick a simple one this time’, does he plan to do it again next time?

I am fine with that too.

As I was a little concerned about the situation over there, Taylor stood up.

“I didn’t plan to work during winter. But we managed to obtain this simple goblin hunting job. In summary, we will be hunting the goblins at the foot of the mountain path. If we set off now, we can make it back late in the night. Well then rookie, let’s get going.”

Part 9

Goblins.

A mainstream monster that was known to everyone in both this world and my own.

These guys didn’t seem to be mob monsters in games, but were unexpectedly seen as dangerous beings by normal people.

They weren’t not much alone, but they moved in groups, and could use weapons.

They seemed to be wild demi-humans, agile, short, violent and will attack humans and livestock.

Although they usually lived in the forest, these goblins were camping at the mountain path leading to the next town for some reason.

We leisurely walked in the grass plains leading to the mountain.

“Anyway, why are the goblins staying at such a place? But thanks to that, we got this great quest of hunting goblins!”

Defeating one goblin would yield 20,000 Eris in bounty.

I don’t know how strong the goblins were, but they must be easy since Rin said so.

I could get a share of the reward just by following behind these 3 with their bags.

This might be the first time I got such an easy quest without any tension.

Normally, my companions would create some trouble along the way, but we reached the mountain safely today.

It was a mountain, but not a lush mountain like those in Japan; it was a brown rocky mountain without vegetation.

There were just a few sparse trees; for the goblins to move to a place that wasn’t blessed by nature was baffling.

If it was the usual party, I would feel uneasiness whether the quest would proceed smoothly. But today, I had a deep sense of security.

That must be because this was a proper party.

Taylor stopped and opened his map.

“The goblins were spotted at the top of this mountain path, just as it starts leading down the slope. There might be goblins living in the caves besides the path. Be on guard from this point onwards.”

I felt a bit moved by Taylor’s instructions.

This is it, this should be a proper conversation between adventurers.

Wanting to charge into the middle of the enemy, suddenly wanting to chant explosion, wanting to go back early to drink beer. Those conversations were the weird ones.

The whole team looked at each other and nodded silently.

There were no divergent paths on the mountain. The narrow trail snaked between the treacherous mountain face.

The path was wide enough for 5 or 6 people to walk side by side, but one side was a wall while the other side was a cliff.

We walked quietly along the path, and I noticed something suddenly.

“Something is coming from the mountain path ahead. It triggered my enemy detection. But it is just one.”

Detect enemy had a response. But there was just one.

Don’t goblins moved in groups?

The 3 of them turned around in surprise when they heard what I said.

“… Kazuma, you have the skill to detect enemies? And it is just one? That shouldn’t be a goblin. There shouldn’t be strong enemies that can move alone here… This is just a straight path, we will be discovered even if we hide among the trees there. Should we fight?”

Taylor lifted his shield and said…

“No, we wouldn’t be discovered if we hide among the trees. Because I have the ‘hide’ skill. This skill is effective on party members that are touched by the user. There are some trees, let’s hide there first?”

After hearing what I said, the 3 appeared even more surprised, but they still hid in the woods.

As expected of a veteran adventurer team.

When you are not sure what the opponent is, first is to avoid battle and observe. That was one of the basics of the basics.

There was nothing to be ashamed about in being careful. But there was in dying due to carelessness.

If it were my usual team mates, would they hide so straightforwardly? As I was thinking about that while hiding—

It came.

Simply put, it was a feline beast.

That thing was bigger than tigers and lions, covered in black fur all over. It had giant fangs like a sabre tooth tiger growing out of its mouth.

That thing paranoidly sniffed the ground of the mountain path we walked on earlier.

When Rin saw that thing, she covered her mouth in panic.

She almost screamed from fear.

The 3 who were touching me with their hands were exerting more strength due to increased tension.

For these 3 to be this nervous, meant that this was a dangerous monster.

— After that thing sniffed around the area, it finally headed off in the direction we came from, moving towards the town.

“… Wah! How, how scary! Rookie killer, that was a rookie killer!”

Seeing Rin say that with teary eyes, that seemed to be a really formidable opponent.

“My heart, my heart almost stopped! We are saved…! I get it, the goblins moved to the mountain path so close to town because they were herded by the rookie killer.”

“Ah, that’s it… but this is troubling. It moved in the direction of our home. We can’t escape back to town that way.”

Keith and Taylor said.

“Erm, was that thing really that scary?”

When the 3 heard me, they looked at me with eyes of disbelief that was saying ‘you didn’t know?’

“That is a rookie killer. It hangs around creatures like goblins and kobolds, weaker monsters that are easier for rookie adventurers to handle, and preys on the weak adventurers. This means the goblins are bait to lure the adventurer. And in order to keep the goblins from settling at one place, it will herd the goblins to change its hunting grounds. A cunning and dangerous monster.

“That is scary.”

In this world, even the monsters are that intelligent.

I feel like letting Aqua taste how powerful the rookie killer was.

“Anyway, can we complete the goblin quest? The rookie killer would usually protect the goblins that are used to lure the adventurers. If we kill the goblins and hide their bodies in the woods along the mountain path, it might ignore us like it did just now, and follow the scent of the bloody goblins instead. Even if it got close, we could rely on Kazuma’s detect enemy. We can’t just keep hiding here since we don’t know whether the rookie killer will come back. Let’s head for our destination.”

We accepted Taylor’s proposal and got out of the woods.

… At this moment, Rin took some of the luggage I was carrying and said,

“If we encounter the rookie killer and everyone has to run, it would better if Kazuma has a lighter load. I will take some too. As compensation, I will be counting on your detect enemy and hide skills alright?”

Rin shouldered her own bags and said nervously.

Hearing Rin said that, Taylor and Keith also hurriedly took their bags from me.

“We, we are not relying on Kazuma okay?” x2

Oh, tsundere mode.

Part 10

The rookie killer seemed like it wasn’t coming back, so we hiked up the mountain path and came to the down slope area marked by Taylor’s map.

The goblins seemed to be sighted here.

Taylor turned to the side.

“Kazuma, how is it? Any reaction from detect enemy?”

Of course. There were plenty.

“If you follow the path down, there are a lot behind that corner. There is no sign of the rookie killer from the way we came from.”

But the reaction was too many. It wasn’t just ten or twenty.

Too many, I couldn’t count clearly.

“If there are many, that would be goblins. The goblins live in groups.”

I looked uneasily at Keith who were putting it so easily.

“No, although I don’t know since I never fought goblins, but would there really be this many? How many are there in a group usually? Just the detected reaction is too many to count.”

Maybe it’s because she saw how I looked, Rin was also starting to get uneasy.

“Nah, is it really that many? Since Kazuma said so, why not take a peek at how many there is, and go in when…”

As Rin was saying that.

“No problem no problem! How could we let Kazuma get all the spotlight! Alright, let’s go!”

Keith shouted as he charged round the corner down the slope where the goblins were.

Taylor followed behind, and both of them yelled.

“Wait! So many!!” x2

When we heard their yell, Rin and I turned the corner too.

— There were way more than 30 goblins.

So these were the famous goblins! I see, they were tiny imps!

Their heights were about that of a grade schooler, but all of them had a weapon and faced our way.

This felt a little intimidating.

Seeing that, Rin tensed her face and yelled.

“Didn’t I tell you! I already told you! Didn’t I say we should peek and see how many there are!!”

Taylor took a step forward to protect Rin who made a crying sound and the archer Keith.

“There will normally be a dozen or so goblins! Damn, if we run back, we might get attacked on both sides by the rookie killer! We have to do this!”

Hearing Taylor’s shout, Rin and Keith prepared to attack with a solemn face.

Goblins saw the situation and let out weird screams, charging at us along the mountain path!

“Chi chi chi! Chi-, chi-!”

We set up our formation on the slope.

“That hurts! Shit, I’m hit by an arrow! Hey! There is a goblin archer! Rin, cast wind defence spells quick!”

“Rin is still chanting, it’s not fast enough! Everyone, try to dodge!”

As Taylor and Keith was shouting.

“Wind breath!”

I shouted beginner wind magic and blew the arrows coming at us away.

“Ka, Kazuma! Good job!”

As Taylor lift his shield and shouted at me, Rin’s magic was completed.

“Wind curtain!”

At the same time, wind blew around us.

That’s right, this was magic!

This was the proper way for wizards to cast support spells!

It must have been a spell that could deflect arrows.

As I was moved thinking ‘this is a real wizard’, I shouted.

“With this terrain, this would work! Create water!”

I chanted beginner magic, creating large amount of water with lots of mana.

The water flowed down the slope before Taylor.

“Kazuma!? What are you…”

As I listened to Rin’s doubtful voice,

“Freeze!”

I used all my might to use beginner ice magic!

“Ohh!!” x3

Except for me, the other 3 shouted in panic, the ground beneath the goblins feet were frozen.

I used this tactic against the demon king’s boss. The goblins slipped from the ice and fell everywhere.

Taylor stood firmly on dry ground, effortlessly slashing at the goblins who were slipping on the ice without firm footing.

We might even make it through without injuries!

I drew my sword and stood beside Taylor…!

“Taylor! The goblins that want to stand up on the ice will be handled by us! We will leave the goblins that don’t come at us to the ranged attacks from behind!”

I feel the emotion of working together with teammates, shouting a little happily.

“Well, well done Kazuma! Hey, let’s go everyone! The numbers are no longer a problem, let’s finish the goblins!”

“Hahaha, isn’t this easy! Watch me shoot holes through them!”

“I’m going! I will cast my powerful magic into their midst!”

We attacked the goblin group with heightened emotions!

Part 11

After finishing off the goblins and on our way back.

“… Hahaha, I have never heard of using magic in such a way! Why is the beginner magic the most effective!”

“Really! I was taught at the magic academy that beginners magic was just a waste of skill points! Haha, hahaha, what is with that!”

“Wahahaha, not good, this is the first time I enjoyed hunting goblins this much! Ara, I thought we were doomed when I saw that large tribe of goblins!”

We talked about the battle just now as we returned to town along the mountain path.

They were still chatting about that fight with heightened emotions.

“Hey, the battle is over, hand your bags over. Shouldn’t those with the weakest job, adventurers carry the luggage?”

I teased them with a smile.

“Ah, sorry, we were mean to you and I apologize! I won’t look down on you again just because you are an adventurer!”

“Sorry Kazuma! Anyway, why is the one with the weakest adventurer job the most active! This is too strange!”

“Hey Kazuma, give me the luggage! You are the MVP today, so I will help you carry them!”

Seeing the 3 of them flustered, I burst out in laughter.

Seeing me laughing out, the 3 noticed I was joking and laughed too.

Ahh, this is nice.

This felt like a real adventuring party.

“Ugh… that hurts…”

Taylor frowned as he apply pressure to his arm.

Taylor who got hit with an arrow in the battle just now pulled it out.

“Hey, are you alright? I can learn recovery magic on the spot, but there are no antiseptics. It’s better to not seal the wounds before going back to town. Do clean the wound and disinfect in town.”

Hearing me say that casually, Rin and Keith gulped for some reason.

“Kazuma, you can learn recovery magic…?”

“Recovery magic… Our team finally has someone who could use recovery magic…”

Taylor cut the two of them off.

“Hey, stop it. Kazuma has somewhere to return to. He has a team that is full of top tier job holders… Really. Now I understand why Kazuma is the leader in a party of top tier jobs members.”

Taylor said as he smiled at me.

Even I myself am not sure why I have to take care of the problem children in my party, but Taylor seemed to know why.

I have to ask him next time.

We got down the mountain and walked onto the vast plains leading to town.

— And we remembered.

We realized there was an existence we need to be careful of.

“Hmm? Is there something charging at us?”

As expected of an archer, his eyesight must be great.

The first to notice was Keith.

After that, I noticed too through detect enemy.

We noticed— the black beast running at us as we were in the middle of the grass plains at dusk.

“Rookie killer!”

With my shout as the cue, the 4 of us ran towards town.

“Ha… Ha…! Damn it, we have to face that in the end!”

Keith cursed while panting.

“Hah, hah… Oh no, it’s catching up!”

As if she was answering him, the teary eyes Rin said through panted breath.

The rookie killer was right behind us.

There was still some distance from town. We won’t make it if this goes on.

At this moment, Taylor who was running in front turned and took a stance with his sword.

“Rin! We will get caught if this goes on! Escape to town with Kazuma! I will stall it, Keith will support me! Get help once you reach town!”

“Oh!? That that that’s right! Leave leave leave it to me! Kazuma belongs to another party after all, but he performed the best! It’s our time to shine!”

What’s with this, saying such cool lines!

Why say things like “leave this to me, you guys go first”!

“I, I understand! Let’s hurry, Kazuma!”

Rim called out to me as she took my hand and prepared to run.

— But even if it was just a day, I am still part of this party.

For me, the option of leaving them before and escape does not exist.

The rookie killer was right before us.

It’s target was Taylor blocking its way.

“Hey, wait Kazuma!? Aren’t you running!?”

I flicked off the hand grabbing me as Rin uttered a panic voice, baffled by why I was just standing there. I chanted in a soft volume, careful to not let the rookie killer notice.

“Create earth!”

A small amount of dirt appeared on my palm.

“Hey Kazuma! It’s dangerous, run!”

I ignored Keith’s flustered voice, crushing the dirt in my hand, positioning myself behind Taylor stealthily.

“Warghh! Bring it on fur ball!”

Taylor roared.

The rookie killer pounced on Taylor.

“Wind breath!”

I aimed the dirt in my palm at the rookie killer and chanted.

“Howl!”

The rookie killer was hit by the dirt in the face, it’s eyes irritated by sand and pronged onto the ground.

It couldn’t see, but it still growled at us.

“Howl!”

“Wait!? Huh!?”

Taylor and the others didn’t understand what was happening.

“Hey, now’s the chance! Runnnn!!”

— A short distance from town.

But we couldn’t feel the presence of the rookie killer any more.

I heard it was a cunning monster, it couldn’t have chased us all the way to town.

“Did, did we lose it?”

Taylor asked in rugged breath.

“Hah… Hah… I, I think we did?”

Rin stopped and kept checking behind her.

” … Huff… Huff… Fuhehehe…”

Keith couldn’t take it anymore and let out a soft laugh.

Hey, what was up with him, did the fear made his mind break?

— But as if they were influenced by Keith’s laughter.

“Ha… Ha, hahahaha…!”

“Ahha… Ahahaha… Ahahahaha!”

Before I realised it, I was laughing along with them over the fact we escaped in the face of a strong adversary.

“Hey, what was that man! Kazuma, what did you do!? Wahahaha!”

Taylor pat my back strongly, but that sharp pain made me feel good.

I knocked happily back at Taylor’s armor.

“It’s beginner magic, beginner magic! I am an adventurer, it took lots of points, but I could only learn beginner magic! Wahaha!”

“How could there be such an adventurer! Ughahaha! My belly, it hurts from laughing! Alive, we encountered the rookie killer and lived!”

“Unscientific! This man is unscientific, in all sorts of ways! How high is his ‘intelligence’! Nah, Kazuma, let me see your adventurer card!”

I did as Rin said and gave her my card.

“Ah… Hmm? Intelligence is normal. The other stats too… Ara, so high!? This person’s luck is very high!!”

Hearing what Rin said, the other two also looked over.

“Wah, what is this!”

“Oh, hey, was the quest proceeding smoothly because of Kazuma’s luck? Both of you, pray quick! You might receive some blessing!”

No, I think this has nothing to do with luck.

The counter lady also said, luck wasn’t necessary to live as an adventurer.

And if my luck was really good, I won’t need to form a party with those people, yeah.

But after Taylor finished, the 3 of them put their hands together and pray to me.

“Please, please don’t do that, don’t pray to me… How about getting some coffee instead? I can create clean water and fire too.”

I took out the mugs as I smiled at the 3 of them.

Part 12

When we reached the doors of the adventurers guild, it was already midnight.

Apart from claiming the reward for the quest, we need to report the appearance of the rookie killer too.

According to Taylor, since the goblin group was wiped out, the rookie killer would wander away from human civilization and look for a new goblin group.

“We are hereeee! That felt like a big adventure today!”

We listened to Rin’s word with a smile and pushed the door of the guild open—

“Boo… Boohoo… Hoo, boohoo… Ah, Kazumaaaaa…”

Seeing the wailing Aqua, I gently closed the door.

“Hey, I know how you feel from the bottom of my heart, but don’t close the door!”

Opening the door that was closed, I saw the crying face of the man who picked on me this morning.

I think his name was Dust, the new leader of Aqua and the others.

A terrible sight.

Megumin was carried on Dust’s back, and Aqua was carrying Darkness who had lost consciousness and was showing the white of her eyes as Aqua wailed.

Looking closely, there was a huge bite mark on Aqua’s head; she was wet all over from saliva or something.

“… Eh, what happened. No, I have a rough idea. I have a rough idea so I don’t really want to hear it.”

“Listen to me! Listen!! It’s my bad alright! You know, I asked everyone what skills they had when we left town. So this kid told me she could use explosion and I praised her for her abilities. And she said ‘let me show you my power’, and suddenly used all her mana on an empty grass plain to cast her explosion spell…”

I plugged my ears pretending to not hear Dust who was complaining to me.

“Hey, listen to me! After that, we encountered the rookie killer! Maybe it heard the explosion and rushed over. And the important wizard was down at this critical juncture. I already said we should flee, but that crusader charged at it despite not having armor, and the result is…”

“Hey everyone, this guy will probably report the incident with the rookie

Chapter end